


Hey Brother

by seamistress89



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, F/F, F/M, Humanstuck, John and Jake are half-brothers, M/M, Multi, Prologue in second person, Protective Jake, Sadstuck, Sorta Sadstuck, Turns to third person, human trolls, protective older brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-02-28 22:24:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2749364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seamistress89/pseuds/seamistress89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A scream echoes in your ears, and your head snaps in the direction of the voice. Your eyes go wide and a single name echoes in your head, before you tear down the hall to find the source. </p><p>John.</p><p>~*~</p><p>AU where John and Jake are half-brothers and where Jake will do anything to protect his younger brother. There is no Sburb/Sgrub session, and human AU, so if/when there’s mention of the trolls, they’ll be humans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Hey brother.  
> Summary: A scream echoes in your ears, and your head snaps in the direction of the voice. Your eyes go wide and a single name echoes in your head, before you tear down the hall to find the source.  
> John.  
> ~*~  
> AU where John and Jake are half-brothers and where Jake will do anything to protect his younger brother. There is no Sburb/Sgrub session, and human AU, so if there’s mention of the trolls, they’ll be human.  
> Pairings: Eventual Jake/Dirk, eventual John/Dave, Rose/Kanaya, Jade/Karkat, Meenah/Aranea, mentioned Jake/Aranea, mentioned John/Vriska, possible others to come.  
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie, just as “Hey Brother” belongs to Avichii.  
> Warnings: Will fill this in later.  
> Notes: Title for the fic inspired by “Hey Brother” from Avichii. I was trying to think of a title idea when the song came up on my radio and I was like “oh, that’s actually perfect”, so yeah…  
> A [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDz45y_C630) to the song (with lyrics) for anyone who would like to listen to it.
> 
> Please take note, rating may change. I have yet to decide on this.
> 
> Sea: So, this came to me while looking for fics and thought why not? Won’t say much on it. I’ll let you guys read and enjoy.  
> Please note: I usually hate writing in this format, but I am willing to try for the sake of this fic.  
> Anyways, yeah… enjoy the fic and all that.

~*~*~*~

A scream echoes in your ears and your head snaps in the direction of the voice. Your eyes grow wide and a single name echoes in your head, before you tear down the hall to find the source.

John.

The single name was the only comprehendible thought in your head as screams echoed the otherwise thin walls of the house. You were glad you opted for thin walls on nights like these. John had a tendency to have night terrors often enough so you needed to hear him at all times. Or at least this had been the thought pattern you had followed at the time.

When you made it to John’s room, you found your younger brother curled up in his bed and sobbing into a stuffed rabbit who looked like he or she’s had better days (you never know if John sticks with Liv or Terry some days). A gentle sigh passes your lips before you move to the bed to climb up beside him. The moment your hand touches one of his arms, he curls to you and begins to sob against your chest.

You coo gentle assurances to him. You tell him you’re there, and you won’t leave him and such things like that. You already know, but you ask him after a little bit to tell you about his night terror this time. It’s the same as always. He misses your Mom and his Dad.

For the past three years he’s had the same night terror. He was present when it happened. He and your parents had been caught in a house fire. You had just been coming home from an errand when you could see the house and its blazing glory.

You had dropped your things and made a dash towards the house, calling John’s name. He was in his room when it happened, and you managed to get him out. He had clung to the bunny he had now as his safety blanket, and had clung to you when you managed to get him out. The ambulance and fire truck had arrived just after you made it out with John and they had ushered you both to the ambulance.

Unfortunately, you and John were the only survivors. Your parents had both died in the house fire. When the paramedics asked, you told them you had a Grandmother who lived on a nearby island. They believed you and you ended up traveling to the said island. You didn’t stay there long, though. Your Gran had passed away some time ago herself – you’re still not completely sure how, but Mom said she’d been attacked by an animal. You knew this was a lie, though. Granny Harley was too good a hunter to be taken down by an animal attack.

None-the-less she was gone, and you had stayed on the island long enough for you to turn eighteen so you could legally care for John. It was only two years, so it was okay. You stayed on the island for those two years, before you moved back to Seattle, Washington and found a cheap enough apartment and a job. You had some money in a savings account, so you were okay for a few months, but you did need a job, so you had gained a job quickly enough.

It was now another year later that found John curled in your arms once more, as he hiccupped and told you the night terror that plagued him once more. After he finished his tale of his fright, you assured him of how he’d be okay, again and how you’d always be here to protect him. He was your little brother. He was still an innocent minded boy of sixteen (you were nineteen by this point). He needed to be protected.

After about half an hour more of his crying, he soon calmed down enough to fall asleep against you and you let this happen. You were careful as you situated you and John to lie down properly. You soon fell asleep with him in your arms, like what was quickly becoming the norm of the past three years.

~*~*~*~

It was hours later when you were awoken from slumber. The alarm of your brothers’ clock was ringing and you sigh slightly. It’s the alarm to signal your brother and you need to get up for work and school. John curls more against you and your lips purse for a second before you begin to move. You try to get up, but John makes it difficult. A hand moves into his hair as you move some away from his face.

“Come on now, John, we need to get up…” Your voice is still thick-ish with sleep, but the words are enough for him to groan and nuzzle your chest.

“Don’t wanna…” The words barely make it to your ears and you heave a sigh. “Comfy…” He finishes.

“I know, but you need to. Come on, up with you.” You move your hand from his hair to lightly push on his shoulder to give it a shake. He continues to whine from the effort, but eventually (after near five minutes), he relents and lets you up. After you’re up, you frown at him a little, but let him rest a little longer. “I’ll be popping waffles in the toaster when you’re finally able to get up. I need to shower, so you need to get up soon if you want to eat.”

Despite your words, you manage to go out and make the waffles for him and get them on a plate. He’s still not out of bed. You did leave his alarm blaring, so you’re sure he’ll be up soon. You make sure to butter and drizzle a bit of syrup (you would have put Nutella, but you and John are both allergic to anything with peanuts in it) on the breakfast items before you leave the plate and a fork and knife with a glass of orange juice on the counter before you head to take your shower.

Five minutes in, you finally hear his alarm turn off and it takes another near two minutes before you hear the faint shuffling of socks on carpet. Good, he’s finally awake then. You spend a good twenty minutes in the bathroom yourself before you come out and you’re wearing a button up and dress pants.

It looks un-natural on you, but this was what your boss liked you to wear for work so you could deal with it. As you entered the dining area, you take notice of John just finishing his breakfast. He was already dressed – he always takes his showers at night, while you take yours in the morning – and his book bag was sat by the chair he’s sat in. He’s also just finished his breakfast and he stands when he looks to you. You can tell he’s still dead tired, but at least he looks a bit more alert now that he’s out of bed.

“Ready to head out, then?” You ask as you take his dishes from him to rinse and leave to clean better later. You grab your keys from the kitchen counter as he shoulders his bag and nods. ”Let’s head out, then.”

He follows you out and you make sure he has his keys (which are on a clip attached to his book bag), before you lock the door and lead him to the car. You drive him to school, wish him a good day, tell him you’ll pick him up about 4 (he has a club he stays for after school, so it works with your work schedule) and then you drive off to work.

~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sea: Right, so that’s it for the first chapter. This was only meant to be introduction to the story and what not anyways, so naturally it was gonna be short.  
> Um, I guess tell me what you think? If you like it, then great. If not, tell me what I can do to improve and I’ll see what I can do. As I mentioned above, I don’t normally write in this style/pov (how pov is not in Microsoft Word dictionary already, I will not understand… whatever). I usually write in third person, but hey, gotta experiment, right?  
> Anyways, yeah… Either Dirk’s in the next chapter or he’ll show up in chapter three. I have yet to decide if I should alternate Jake and John every other chapter, yet.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see Jake at work and Dirk is somewhat of a dick (sorry ahead of time, guys).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sea: Right, so the first chapter’s done (obviously), so onto the next!  
> Hope you guys are liking it so far, ‘cause I like writing this so far myself.  
> Also, just for reference, I KNOW I would try and stay in third person but Jesus fucking Christ, I’ve changed my mind.  
> The previous chapter (of which I’ve edited my work on AO3 to mention it as the Prologue… or at least I edited the chapter title to say such) is in Second person still, but the rest is going to Third person.  
> Oh dear God, I hate editing things so much!

After he dropped John off at school, Jake made his way straight to work. Once inside, he smiled to the girl at the front as he approached her. “Hello Aranea, darling. How are you this morning?” Jake asked in his usual chipper tone.

Aranea looks up at him and smiles pleasantly. The raven had a crush on her for the first couple months he’s worked here, but soon found she had a girlfriend already, so he soon became nothing more than close friends. He was quite fine with this, actually.

“Hi, Jake.” She greeted in return. “I’m doing quite swimmingly, thank you.” He let out a chuckle as she caught herself too late. Sometimes Meenah’s fish puns got the better of Aranea.

Once he settled from his chuckle fit, he smiled politely to the woman. “Am I in the café again, then?” Jake asked with a raised brow. He worked at a Barnes and Noble and usually he worked in the café half if Aranea was at one of the check-out counters. Jake didn’t mind actually, as it usually meant he’d get to work with his cousin, Jane.

“That would be a correct assumption.” Aranea tells him with a nod and a smile. “I believe Jane’s in the kitchen area already.”

Jake tells her a quick thank you and makes his way across the store. He soon makes it to the café half and slipped on an apron once he made it behind the counter. He slipped on his name plate as well before he had a look around for his cousin. As his friend mentioned, she was indeed in the back area.

“Janey, there you are!” He called out to her and she looks to him with a bright smile.

“Hello, Jake. Get John out of bed on time this morning then?” She teases him, though he also heard the worry hidden in her tone. He can’t help but find it endearing.

“It took a bit of work but indeed I did! Even got him to school on time.” Jake joked in return and Jane gives a small laugh.

“That’s good to hear. Help me get some of these to the display case?”

The raven agreed and soon the book store and café has customers filtering in and out at a nice and steady pace. Jake helped some of the regular patrons easily enough and was patient with the newer customers as well. Unfortunately though, he dreaded when he spotted a familiar head of blond heading his way.

“English.” The man practically purrs his name and he had to resist the urge to grit his teeth. Dad blast it, the regular known as Dirk Strider approaches the counter and he was already pulling out a medium sized cup and a sharpie.

“The usual then, Strider?” When he gives a noise of affirmation, Jake scribbled the name ‘Di-Stri’ (he requested Jake do so and has done ever since) before he moved to fill the cup with the Pumpkin Spice latte. Jake always wondered how he can drink the thing, but never outright asked. That would involve talking to the infuriating man!

And speaking of… Jake noticed his mouth twitch into a smirk and the raven mentally cursed. He just had to jinx his luck, didn’t he?

“So, have you…?”

“Don’t even start it, Strider.” He told him in a snipped tone. He always tries to ask him out on a date when he comes, but so far, Jake has always told him no. “I don’t have time these days.” And it was true. He had a younger brother to take care of, after all.

“You know, you still have never told me just why you tell me no each time. It makes a guy wonder if you really don’t like him.” His tone was teasing and Jake does try his best to ignore it. It takes him a minute, before he continues to talk. “Hmm… why not? I’ll eat here today.”

Well, that was definitely a first. Jake looked to him in surprise. Usually he comes for his latte and then leaves after the raven turned him down again!

“Wh-what can I get you to eat then?” Jake asked and he looks over the menu – or he can assume he does. Honestly, who wears sun glasses indoors? Especially dorky looking anime shades? Apparently Dirk Strider does.

“Well…. Since I can’t seem to find you on the menu,” He begins and the raven gaped at him. The nerve of this man, sometimes! “I guess I’ll settle for a grilled chicken sandwich.”

Jake pursed his lips and gave a tight nod. “Very well. Will that be all then?” When he gives a nod, the raven decided he might as well have him pay now. He called the sandwich order to Jane before he rang up the blondes’ order and he gives the appropriate amount.

He soon is leaning against the counter while he waits for his order to be finished. Jake told him the sandwich would take Jane a few minutes and he told the other that was fine. “So, you ever going to tell me why you won’t go out with me? Come on, just look at me.” He waves a hand along his side and green eyes roll. While Jake might find him slightly attractive, he is still a thorn in the ravens’ side while he had to work. If he didn’t need the money, he would seriously consider leaving the café.

“As much as I’ll regret saying, it’s nothing to do with your body.” The raven told him in an annoyed tone. He hopes he’ll just drop it.

Unfortunately, Lady Luck does not seem to be on your side this afternoon. He decides to persist. “Then what is it?”

“I have responsibilities to take care of.” He said with some hesitation. He raises a brow at you. “I have a younger brother to look after.” He clarified. Obviously the annoying man will not leave him alone.

“So leave him with your parents for a couple hours…” His sentence drawls out when he notices the annoyed look that crosses the others features. “Or don’t, then…. Uh… leave him with your cousin?” He knows Jane is Jake’s cousin, and that’s only because she told him after he asked about the “cute new barista that worked with her” – her words, not Jake’s.

If Jake had done what he really wanted to in response to that, he would have. But, again, he needed the money right now. Although looking through the wanted ads in the newspaper sounded really good right then. Maybe he’d look after work or something? Yeah, that definitely sounded like a good idea.

“As flattering as your counter argument sounds,” Jake began and he was really thankful when he heard the gentle clatter of a plate just behind him. He grabbed the said plate, as well as the coffee cup from beside himself to place on a small brown tray to nearly shove in the blondes’ direction. “I’m afraid your food seems to be ready, and I have other customers to attend to.”

The blond on the other half of the counter eyed the raven for a moment, but eventually picked up his tray to take to a small table. Dirk only seemed to have time to stay to eat for half an hour before he brought the tray and plate back to a little side counter with condiments like sugar packets and honey for people with coffee. When he set down the tray, he picked up his coffee, which he still apparently wasn’t done with and decided to pick up their earlier conversation. Jake wasn’t helping anyone at that moment. He was wiping down the front counter, actually.

“So, I suppose there’s no possible way you’ve changed your mind any yet?” Dirk out right and asked.

Jake actually let out a sigh as he turned his gaze towards the blond. He looked tired and worn out right at the moment. And to be honest, if you would ask Jake himself? He would say that yes, he was tired and that yes, he was worn out. Not only did he have a regular customer constantly bother him for a date, but he also had a younger brother to care for.

“Mr. Strider, as nice as it is that you are so interested in a date, I’m afraid I really must decline. I have more things to worry about than simply getting a date. If it were under any other circumstances, I might have considered it a possibility, but right now, it’s just not happening.” With a glance at the clock, Jake pursed his lips. Maybe Jane would consider letting him go early? He needed to pick up John in two hours and a nap sounded superb at the moment. He was too nice to ask, though, so he’d toughen it out. It was only two more hours.

Dirk seemed to stay quiet for almost a full five minutes before he spoke up once more. This time, his words sounded more concerned instead of the cocky tone he’s been using. “So what kind of different would we be talking here?”

Jake blinked in surprise. Who ever thought that someone would ask something like that? Didn’t it sound a bit rude to ask? Despite these thoughts, Jake decided to answer honestly… Or as honestly as he was willing to. “Different at the least as in finding an affordable trauma therapist, now if you’ll excuse me.”

Jake didn’t wait for the blond to respond as he moved to take a few trays and dishes that had begun to pile up into the back area. He didn’t notice as Dirk froze.

Jake also did not notice as Dirk tried to call after him. Eventually, his cousin had gone to see what Dirk wanted, it seemed. Jane came back with a confused look though as she offered a piece of paper with something written on it. It was a note for Jake, it seemed.

“Jake? That blond guy who likes you – Dirk? – he left a note for you.” Jane spoke up as she half watched her cousin load the little dish washer machine they had. Jake filled and closed it before he turned to Jane.

When he was fully facing his cousin, she offered out a folded note to him. It was written on a piece of stationary they used for longer orders and he opened it to find the blond mans’ hand writing. It was a simple note, written in orange pen, as it looked like. How odd, the orange pen must have been from the Striders’ personal collection of pens.

My cousin specializes in trauma therapy, and she works for a reasonable price. She usually helps her patients figure out a right price range. Tell her Di-Stri sent you when you make the appointment. 

Roxanne Lalonde 

xxx-xxx-xxxx -Dirk

Jake eyed the note with a wary frown. Well, that was definitely not what he expected…

Maybe this Dirk fellow could be more useful than Jake ever imagined? If he was willing to offer the therapists’ information, then he couldn’t be that bad, could he?

Jake made sure to carefully fold the note to stick in his pants pocket, and a smile crossed his lips rather fondly. He did have to wonder exactly why Dirk was being nice enough to offer the therapists information, but at the same time he was grateful. His younger brother really did need to talk to someone and if this Roxanne woman could help, then he’d happily call her later after work. He only hoped she stayed after four at the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sea: Right, so I was gonna try and make this longer, but then I thought this might actually be a good spot to stop for now.  
> Anyways, sorry for the delay! I’m really hoping I’ll have another chapter out at the most before New Year’s, but I really can’t make any promises.  
> For now, I just would like it to be mentioned that I do have college to worry about, as well as the need to buy a new laptop soon (which I’m hoping to do tomorrow, but it might have to be after New Year’s), so those are my main reasons for delaying for so long.  
> Hopefully I’ll have more John in the next chapter – maybe a bit of him at school or something? I don’t know yet.  
> Also, I want to apologize ahead of time for Dirk being a dick in this chapter! Normally, I would not do that since I LIKE Dirk’s character, but it was needed for story development! He won’t be a dick for very often, I promise!  
> Anyways, tell me what you guys thought I guess? Constructive criticism is welcome, guys! Tell me what I can do to improve the story and stuff!  
> EDIT: I figured out the formatting text and colors and shit. Just thought I'd mention that.


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sea: So, I’ve decided to write this one for John. Possibly slight bit angst like? I’ve yet to decide.  
> John will be a bit more depressed though. He has his reasons, damn it! (II will probably get to explaining that further later)
> 
> Also, as a side note: I apologize for any Fef bashing in anyway. I love Fef, but yeah... I see her as a gossip-y girl, if she had the chance.
> 
> Edit: Hey guys, a quick update on what I'm doing here - I'm gonna write the story in a notebook and continue it in said notebook. So yeah... Updates might take longer. I'm not sure just yet.   
> If they do, then sorry. Updates might take longer anyways because I have some personal shit going on. Anyways, hopefully they won't take /too/ long.   
> Until the new update though, I hope you guys enjoy the chapters already up!

~*~*~*~

 

When he was dropped off that day, John had decided to just go through his normal routine. The raven haired teen hitched his bag over his shoulder as he watched Jake drive away. A forced smile made its way across his features as he ventured into the two story – three, if you counted the basement – building.

 

Blue eyes were closed tightly to the sounds of the multiple voices. While he played a very sociable teen a lot of times, there were also times when the morning crowds were just too much. Sometimes the afternoon crowd for just after school over whelmed him too, but then he found out about the science club that met for an hour, so while his brother finished his shift, he’d usually join their gatherings. They seemed to accept him easy enough and it did help a bit that Jade – one of his best friends – joined him too.

 

He also joined her and Sollux – another friend of theirs – in the robotics club too on Tuesday and Thursdays and those were fun little get-togethers too, so he didn’t mind that much. It fit well enough with his schedule. Monday and Wednesday they had the science club, while Tuesday and Thursday they had robotics club. Friday was the only day he didn’t have a club to occupy himself with, but Jade always stayed with him until her Grandpa (Grandpa Harley was what she said to call him once) came to pick her up, which was usually just before Jake would arrive just around 4.13 every afternoon (John just assumed this was coincidence or something because of traffic and when his brother would leave work).

 

As the brunette mulled over his thoughts, he didn’t take notice until it was too late that he was walking right into someone’s back. John would only admit it maybe to Jade, but a small (totally manly) squeak left him when he ended up falling right on his ass from the bumping into the other. It seemed the other had just about the same luck as John as an “oof” met his ears in the tone of a certain blond teens’ voice. A slight trail of pink crossed the first teens’ cheeks as he began to right himself after realizing just who he ran into.

 

After the brunette was back to his feet, he offered a sheepish smile to the blond he ran into. “Hey, sorry.” He offered with an outstretched hand. “Wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

 

When the head tilted in his direction, he was only met with a pair of sunglasses to look at, instead of a pair of eyes. John was never quite sure why the guy hid behind his pair of Aviators, but the brunette did know that he’s never been able to see past the said aviator sunglasses. No one has, actually.

 

Dave Strider never takes them off. But to be honest? That was one of the few things you knew about him. You knew he never took off his sun glasses and that he was this cool kid in school. You’ve **heard** that his brother hits on yours, but you’ve never got firm confirmation on that.

 

When the blond finally took his hand, John helped him up and a mumbled “thanks” was vaguely caught. “Don’t sweat it bro. I wasn’t paying attention I guess, either. This shit happens and all that.”

 

The blond began to ramble, and this made John laugh out a little. He could tell the blond was still rambling, but he wasn’t paying much attention to the rest of the rambling. He was laughing too much at the mere fact a **cool kid** was rambling.

 

Not that it was a bad thing. He hasn’t had a genuine laugh like this in a while.

 

When the fingers snapped just in front of his face, the action startled John for a second, and he looked to the other in confusion. It seemed like he missed something Mister Cool Kid had asked him or said something important that he missed?

 

“Ground control to Major Tom. You in there, bro?”

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, hehe sorry.”

 

Well, at least the blond didn’t **seem** to be bothered by his lack of attention span. An amused smirk passed his lips. It was the only clue John had until the other clarified. “I take it that means you didn’t just hear me.” Sheepishly, John shook his head. The other took that as his cue to repeat himself. “I asked your name. You know, for insurance and all that shit.”

 

“I-I’m sorry?” The blond simply chuckled at his confusion.

 

“What? You don’t think an ass like this can go without an insurance policy?” When john began to stutter, the blond chuckled more. “Dude, I’m joking. Settle down.”

 

John took a moment to calm down and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Right, of course.” He shook his head after a second, before he extended his hand. “My name’s John. Uh, John Egbert. Nice to meet you.”

 

A hand slapped to his, which caused John to wince. Sure, he was fine with some rough housing, but it was still early and stuff. “Name’s Dave Strider. But you probably already knew that?” John simply nodded his affirmation and Dave nodded in return and said “Cool.” It seemed like he was proud of his reputation at the school. Then again, who wouldn’t be if they were one of the most popular kids there?

 

It took another moment before John realized their hands were still connected. Neither seemed to care about letting go. John was okay with it, but after another moment, he realized he was still in school. “Um… anyways, sorry to bump into you and have to run, but class will start soon, and uh…” John trailed off. Their hands soon fell to their sides as Dave let go of John’s hand.

 

“It’s cool, bro. No harm done and shit. See you around?”

 

John simply nodded and he felt as though butterflies flittered in his stomach when he saw the facial features near his eye move and John could only guess the other winked at him. Dave called out a “Later,” before he made his way off.

 

~*~*~*~

 

After the encounter with the blond, John decided to just let his day go about normally once more. John went to class after class and soon, the bell to dismiss physics ended. As normal, Jade came to meet him at his desk and they began to talk and walk as they headed for the cafeteria. They’d meet the others at the table.

 

On the walk to the cafeteria, the two didn’t normally talk about anything really important. They never did. But after the two had got their food and were about to head towards their normal table, Jade noticed someone staring in their direction. The girl frowned and stopped mid-sentence – something about her plans for her dream bot? John never could fully understand her robotics talk, though he definitely did try.

 

“Someone’s watching us.” She spoke in a matter of fact tone.

 

John looked to her in confusion. How could she tell? They were in the cafeteria with about a hundred or so peers. He decided to voice his thoughts. “How can you tell?”

 

“Just can.” She looked around until her gaze settled somewhere to the upper left side. “Is that…? Why’s he looking over here?”

 

John followed her gaze curiously and he blinked when he noticed the blond from earlier. Though this time he didn’t have his shades on. Instead, he was looking to them with what looked like brown eyes. For some reason, John really didn’t think brown eyes suited him. After a moment, he responded to Jade. “I don’t know why.” He answered.

 

Okay, so maybe that was half true. He had guessed that maybe Dave was staring at him because of earlier, but that couldn’t be right… Could it? Earlier was just one of those accidentally bump-into-one-another-in-the-hall things. It’s not like that would be a big deal around here. Especially to Mr. Cool kid.

 

Jade continued to eye the blond for an extra minute or so (John couldn’t understand why. Did she find him attractive or something? Blegh). When she finally did decide to move again though (and look away), John dismissed her action as nothing more than staring at a hot guy. Not that John thought he was hot. Nope. No way in Hell. That was the silliest thing ever to think!

 

When they arrived at their table, only two heads (of the six that occupied their table already) looked up to greet them. Rose was one of them, and the other was Karkat. The other occupants were Rose’s girlfriend Kanaya Maryam, one of their friends from the robotics club, Sollux Castor, Sollux’s off and on boyfriend Eridan Ampora, and finally one of John’s close friends (of whom he’s gone out with) Vriska Serket (her sister also worked with John’s brother).

 

John had to admit, he was slightly surprised to see Vriska sitting with them. The one-eyed woman would usually sit with the cool kids, or with Equius and Nepeta, or sometimes even with Gamzee (John could never understand how Vriska or Karkat could hang around Gamzee. The dude could be scary!) and Tavros (she had a current fling going on with Tavros and Equius. She had ALL the irons going in her furnace. She always had all the irons going, though. It was why she and John couldn’t stay an item. John couldn’t handle the added stress). Why was she over here?

 

John vaguely recognized that Rose and Karkat greeted them (“Good afternoon, John. How has your day been thus far?” “It’s about damn time you two showed up! I was thinking I’d have to deal with spider-bitch alone today!”). John also vaguely recognized Jade’s response to Karkat (“Awe, I knew you’d miss us. And here I was thinking you’d never grow a set to eventually admit you cared!” John could hear the sarcasm in her voice, and it made him twitch a smile into place). John was honestly too preoccupied with eyeing Vriska though. He really did want to know what the spider and luck obsessed woman wanted.

 

When Vriska looked up, and John caught her eye with his gaze (seriously, she was blind in one eye, so he could only catch the one eye. It was something to do with pissing off an old girlfriend, John remembered), the spider woman cracked a smirk in amusement. “Aren’t you going to say hi to me, John?” Her voice was thick with how amused she was.

 

When John finally snapped from his shock, he blinked and smiled lightly to her. “Oh, sorry. Hi Vriska! So, um… not that I’m not happy with your company or anything,” John heard Karkat scoff. The Greek really hated Vriska for some reason. John was never sure why. “But what are you doing over here? Didn’t you tell me last night you were gonna sit with Tavros?”

 

John talked with Vriska every couple of nights on Skype or Pester chum, and he was content enough with that. He was perfectly fine with still being friends with the Serket woman. As long as she didn’t cause trouble for anyone, John didn’t mind. He just wanted to know why she suddenly changed her mind to where she would sit the next couple of days.

 

“Well, I **was** but then Tav-dork told me he wouldn’t be in school today! Something about taking care of that clown he likes so much,” (“What the fuck do you mean?! What happened to Gamzee?!”) Karkat tried to interrupt, but Vriska didn’t pay him any mind. Her gaze was still on john and it wasn’t moving. Not even to look down at what food she could salvage. John’s offered to bring her food when she sits with them, but he always told her to let him know ahead of time. How else would he know to bring extra stuff? “Anyways, I didn’t feel like sitting with the pussy cat and her body guard, and I totally heard some interesting news about **you** John, so I **had** to come sit with you and confirm it!”

 

At the mention of news about John possibly going around, the whole table suddenly looked curious. Eridan was already a gossip whore (he was worse than his cousin, Feferi! Though she was okay most of the time), Sollux just looked like he was bored, Rose and Jade looked a mix of curious and concerned (they were protective of John a lot), Kanaya looked on with a bit of a concerned frown (if it involved one of her friends or the friend of her girlfriend being hurt, she could be quite protective – John remembered once when Jade got hurt in a fight, Kanaya came to school the next day to threaten the kid who hurt her by mentioning Kanaya’s chain saw was in her car and she’d be happy to “show it” to the kid), and Karkat looked tenser than normal (which was really saying something, though John couldn’t read his expression well).

 

“Well, what is it?” Jade finally asked in a slightly snippy tone. Okay, so Jade didn’t really like Vriska much either. If she could get away with it, or if John would let her, she would have gone after Vriska when John learned Vriska was having a fling with the other two. John swore jade was like a protective dog sometimes.

 

“I bet you’ll never even guess who I heard this from – the basketball team!” Vriska really didn’t give anyone time to think of who she could have heard the rumor from, or even what the rumor was as she continued. “John totally ran into the star player! You know that blond lanky kid? Um, what’s his name? Oh yeah! Strider! John totally ran into him this morning!”

 

As Vriska went on, John noticed the deeper concern that filled Jade’s, Rose’s and even Karkat’s eyes. Eridan was still listening as Vriska rambled on, and Kanaya listened intently as well, but Sollux looked like he was tuning out Vriska now, while Jade, Rose and Karkat looked to John for confirmation.

 

“Is the rumor true, John?” Rose had asked, concern deep in her tone.

 

John tried to sink into his seat, or under the table or anything, but he just could not get away from the wary and curious and concerned glances or the three friends. When he finally gave a nod, he could see Rose frown and glance briefly in the direction of the other side of the cafeteria. John couldn’t really understand why, but he let it slide.

 

After another few questions concerning if John was okay and how it happened, the subject died down. When john received a message on his phone (he only turned the volume up some when at lunch), he was curious when he found a message from his brother.

 

GT: John! Ive some news for you!

GT: Though im not sure how much youll approve

GT I found a therapist id like you to visit. The appointment is already set. Youll be going to see her on the thirteenth this month.

 

After a long sigh and a quick message of “okay” sent back to him, John returned his phone to his pocket after setting his phone back to vibrate. The bell to dismiss lunch rang a few minutes after. After a quick goodbye to his friends, John was back off to class. The rest of his day resumed as normal once more and John was rather thankful for that.

 

He was especially thankful in science club when they got to play with the chemicals a little. The chemistry class that was hosted just before their club started had got to play with chemicals and Mrs. Tatum (who supervised the science club) let them play around for half an hour before she asked them If they would be so kind as to help her clean up. John and jade had of course agreed to help, as did a few other kids.

 

After science club finished up (and everything was cleaned and helped to be put away), Jade and john walked back out to sit near the curb by the front doors.

 

“You know what this school really should invest in?” Jade began after a short bit of talking about her robot project again.

 

“What?”

 

“Some nice benches! It couldn’t hurt, and there’s plenty of kids who have to wait for a ride anyways! The little stone pillar-slabs are nice and all, but it gets so cold in the winter! Especially to sit on those!”

 

John couldn’t help but laugh at Jade’s complaining. “Well, you could always suggest it to Mr. Droog. Maybe he’d actually listen?” Mr. Droog was their vice-principal and he listened to some of the students suggestions. He just had to usually get them approved by a couple people and all was good.

 

Jade looked to John with pursed lips. While most of the kids liked Mr. Droog to an extent, he could be intimidating. Though if you asked john, he would mention he was more intimidated by either Mr. Slick (the health instructor) or Mr. Boxcars (the P.E. teacher). John did like Miss Paint, Mr. Clover and Mr. Deuce though. They were nice, and sorta cute in their midget-y and plumpish ways.

 

“I don’t know…”

 

“What if I went with you?” John suggested. “I could be like, your moral support.”

 

Jade looked like she was thinking about it before she let out a sigh. She opened her mouth to answer, but then looked up quickly, as if alerted by something. She smiled apologetically to john before she stood and pulled her messenger bag over her shoulder. “We’ll see! Sorry though, John! Grandpa’s here now! Gotta run!”

 

John blinked, but looked up to see the old looking off white car sitting just a few feet away. He smiled almost sadly and nodded, calling a quick okay and bye as he waved to her. She got in the car and waved back to him before the car was off. It wasn’t too long a wait before Jake pulled up and John got in the car. The usual how was your day, and it was fine was exchanged, before their day turned to night and night turned to bed time once more.

 

~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sea: I am SO sorry this was so late! It somehow turned hard for me to finish at the cafeteria scene and yeah.. I just could NOT get past it for a while.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed and all that fun stuff.  
> There are a few one shots to look out for soon (“The Terror of Casey Egbert” and I think I named the other one “Not now”) between chapters, so hopefully those will be out soon, and yeah! Sorry again, and hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Edit: Not Now is out. The terror of Casey Egbert is still being worked on.


End file.
